He came to Muncie in 1976 as one of four founding professors for Ball State University’s Department of Urban Planning in the College of Architecture and Planning, where his specialty was transportation planning. He retired in 2013.
Former student Nathan Bilger, planning director for Columbia City/Whitley County (Indiana) and website administrator for Indiana Railroads Bull Session (Indianarailroads.org) fondly recalls Parker as a favorite professor of many students.
“His classes were hard,” Bilger tells Trains, “mostly because of the huge amount of information he tried to convey. He loved to share knowledge with the students, but he also loved to learn from them.”
Parker was a longtime volunteer for the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Ind., serving as an engineer and conductor, as well as the group’s historian and editor of its newsletter. He also led training classes for new members.
A memorial service will be held April 6 in Muncie.
I took his class for volunteers back in the 90s. He was very patient, especially when explaining the intricacies of air brake operation. Even my wife understood when he was done. There are some big shoes to fill down in Connersville.